The One Thing We Need to Bring Over From Traditional Work Culture to Creative Work Is...
I promise, it's not Meetings that Could Have Been Emails
It’s been two weeks since the most recent Spotify layoffs, and I can’t stop thinking about them. And not only becuase the news from Spotify that got the most play was Bill Simmons calling Harry and Megan “frauds” as they ended their contract. I listened to that podcast episode when it came out, and when I heard that, I audibly said “Oops!” in my bed.
Since then, we got even more creative job layoffs, like at The Athletic, a constellation of reporters covering every facet of local sports. They got bought up by the NYTimes for 100s of millions of dollars, changed the business model to be like everyone else, and then NYT laid folks off. I’m bringing that one up specifically because of how similar the NYT and Spotify buy-and-cut strategies have been. Like check out this summary of all the money spent by The Big Swedish Green, as pulled together by Bloomberg:
Even as Twitter becomes a ruined city built on the dead body of a god floating through space, a lot of folks in audio are tweeting through it.
And I can’t stop reading it for two reasons. 1) My heart is genuinely breaking and I can’t look away. 2) I want to shake them by the shoulders and say FOLKS, YOU HAVE SO MUCH MORE POWER THAN YOU THINK YOU DO.
We’re letting massive companies tell us what success is.
That tweet above from Jane Marie is stuck in my teeth because of how true it is, but maybe not in the way that she’s describing it.
Podcasting is speedrunning the content creation business timeline. We’ve seen it time and time again in digital creation: blogging, YouTube, social media platforms, and now streaming. But podcasting’s happening so fast, as it feels like it really got kicked off in 2019 when Spotify started that spending spree from that table above.
The regression always happens when the massive corporations who invest a lot of money into something they think they need don’t get the returns. And this isn’t turning a profit, this sustained, growing growth. That sweet, sweet 6% ROI!
And if you’re thinking, why are companies getting greedier? It’s that they need that ROI, and they’re tired of waiting. That’s why Reddit and Twitter are making insane choices to squeeze pennies out of their users; that’s why streamers keep undercutting writers; that’s why Jim Spanfeller made Deadspin stick to sports and then he didn’t have a staff anymore at Deadpsin.
This is best summed up by something Michael Schur said on The Distraction, the flagship podcast I produce over at Defector. He said that the companies that own TV are massive conglomerates, and they own a lot of different industries. And when they look at TV, it’s being compared to airplane parts manufacturing. And both those industries need to give 6% growth in their profits, or they’re not working.
And I’m going to scream THAT’S JUST NOT HOW MEDIA AND ART WORKS.
So instead of Infinite Profit Growth, let’s make up our own goals
As someone who’s been a creative person at tech companies for nearly a decade, you hear SO MANY acronyms that just bounce of your head. I still don’t REALLY now what an API is, and I’ve been pretending for since 2015. But one we can actually use is KPI. That stands for:
And what does that mean? Greeaaat question, these acronyms are not helpful most times. I’m gonna grab this straight from Investopedia:
Key performance indicators (KPIs) refer to a set of quantifiable measurements used to gauge a company’s overall long-term performance. KPIs specifically help determine a company’s strategic, financial, and operational achievements, especially compared to those of other businesses within the same sector.
Translation: GOALS. That just means goals.
Get a notebook or some Post-its or a whiteboard or a Word doc and write down some goals you want to achieve.
This isn’t a vision board or just wishful thinking, because we’re looking for attainable things that you can actually see. We don't want to fall into the traps that these giant companies have set for us, as well as the ones that society has set for us, so we can’t write INFINITE MONEY or CELEBRITY ART CREATOR or 1,000,000 downloads.
For feelings people like ourselves, we can target milestones. Ask yourself, “what would make me feel successful at what I do?” And write out all of the things that make you feel that way, from the biggest to the smallest.
“100 patrons on Patreon” works, but so does, “the first time we get fan art” or “the first time we get an email saying how much they enjoy the show.” You could say “500 dollars a month from my creative business,” but maybe “I feel like I can buy those sick pair of Nike Dunks” will reflect that feeling AND give you a tangible reminder of what you have and what you can do.
Targeting milestones or moments also eliminates the real-life noise that go into numbers. 6% ROI No Matter What doesn’t account for everything going on in the world, but you’re a real person who can think wider than that. Especially when numbers, especially as they’re tied to subscriptions, have so much flux that doesn’t get reflected in the number summary.
I may be too simplistic and glib about work, everyone’s personal finances, and what’s possible. And maybe I am, the world is weird and I’m trying to find a smooth stone that will skip across the big, big lake of uncertainty.
But creatives either are convinced or convince themselves they don’t understand business and money. If we don’t treat our work like its own small business, we give up the Real Shit to other people who do not have our interests at heart.
Be your own kind manager. Buy yourself a pizza party, pull up to a whiteboard, and write down some goals. And afterward, grab a hard seltzer and stop working at 3pm.
POST SCRIPT: I’m really enjoying messing with TikTok.
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I know my millennial is showing, but I thought I didn’t want to make more content for the Make More Content app. But I couldn’t sleep Friday night and Reddit and Twitter continue to be royally and divinely beefed, so I dove in. And it unlocked in my head.
It’s not a pivot to video for ol’ text-and-audio me, but learning how to edit video and get comfier in front of a camera is genuinely exciting. Follow me for TTRPG content and messing around.